


Just Another Day

by TWDObsessive



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Daryl, Emotions, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Lonely rick, M/M, Rickyl, Shy Daryl, Slow Build, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Virgin Daryl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 15:56:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3856444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TWDObsessive/pseuds/TWDObsessive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl and Rick spend most days together.  And all those days at the prison are becoming more and more of the same.  But Rick's been getting lonely.  And on this day, one that starts out like any other, things are about to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks goes to Skarlatha, who is such a dedicated beta reader that she even gave me her vacation schedule so I'd know why I might not hear back from her as quickly as usual. Seriously, is she awesome or what!?

Nothing in particular had happened that day. It wasn't like the day Rick had killed Shane and the barn burned. Wasn't like the day that Carl was shot. Or the day they found Sophia turned. It wasn't a particularly stressful day. It was just a day at the prison. People coming and going. Rick and Carl tended to the garden. Daryl hunted and came back with a satchel of squirrels. Carol did laundry. Maggie and Glenn worked at the fence dispatching walkers. It was like one day in a string of months filled with days that were exactly the same as the day before.

Daryl was on watch in the tower that evening on this regular day and Rick joined him, bringing some of the deer jerky and beans they had for dinner. Rick did this more evenings than not, and Daryl would eat and listen as Rick talked about plans for the coming days, problems that needed to be solved at the prison. Sometimes he'd talk about Lori. He'd admitted to the hunter a few weeks prior that for a while he'd been seeing her, talking to her. Daryl would talk about the slowly diminishing amount of tracks he saw on his hunts or his thoughts on what they'd need to pick up on a next run.

And sometimes they'd talk about nothing and just enjoy the silent company. Daryl chewed on the jerky and they both sat shoulder to shoulder watching the tree line as the sun set.

Daryl could sense that the leader had something on his mind.

"Y'alright?" Daryl asked as he chewed the tough jerky.

Rick shrugged his shoulders. Rick was usually a talker. And even in their companionable silences, if Daryl would ask a question, Rick would eagerly speak to it. But this night he was quiet.

After a few minutes the hunter tried again. "Y'don't seem alright."

Rick checked his gun and counted the bullets. A new habit he'd developed, a nervous tic. "Lonely s'all, I guess."

"Lonely? Christ, the prison's got a flood a' people now and we got bars n'stead a' walls. No damn privacy. I hear snorin' all night long from like ten diff'rnt people. Ya ask me, it ain't lonely enough."

Rick smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Yer used ta that I guess... The quiet and bein' alone. I'm used ta the snorin and tossin' and turnin' bein right in my bed."

So it was gonna be a Lori night, Daryl thought. He scooped up the last bite of beans, ate them and put the empty metal plate down. He grabbed one of his bolts and started picking at the much-used arrowhead.

"Seein' her again?" he asked.

"No."

Daryl was growing uncomfortable with Rick's limited dialogue. He wasn't used to being the one that had to carry a conversation. Normally he'd just let it die down and enjoy the silence, nothin' but summer crickets and Rick's quiet company. But it was clear the leader was hurtin'.

"Lonely." Daryl shook his head. "I ain't enough company for ya? Know I'm not as riveting a conversationalist but 'least I don't nag ya 'bout shit all the time. Don't never need ta ask if my ass looks big in these pants. Don't get all moody on ya once a month."

Rick turned to him. "Kinda naggin' me now."

Daryl knocked into the leader's shoulder playfully and was pleased to hear the man chuckle. Was weird. Like that was the best part of his day, makin' Rick chuckle.

After a few more minutes of silence, Rick said, "Know you never been married, but ya ever been with someone long enough where ya go to bed with 'em every night and wake up to 'em every mornin?"

"Not 'less ya count Merle passin out drunk in my livin room."

Rick grinned again. "It's nice. Havin someone that's always just there."

Daryl kept his gaze on the man for a moment before looking back out at the tree line. He was uncomfortable about how offended he suddenly felt. He had joked earlier but now he really felt a sting. Daryl was always there. Didn't he count? Christ, maybe his ass did look big in these pants. He laughed to himself. 

"What?" Rick asked

"Nothin'" Daryl responded. He reached over and put the arrow back in the quiver and winced a bit at the stretch from his sore muscles.

"Bow's gotta be hard on your shoulders. Ya hurtin'?" Rick asked.

"Ain't bad."

Rick got to his knees and put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "Turn 'round." And for some reason Daryl did without thinking or asking why.

"Lori used to give great massages," the leader said as he pressed into Daryl's shoulders with both his hands, using his thumbs to press into sore spots in his back. Daryl almost groaned at the feeling of the heat from Rick's touch and the rhythm of his hands as they kneaded along his neck and shoulders. He dropped his head and tried to relax into it. Don't often get nice things like this in the apocalypse, and he decided to take what was offered.

"That how you learned ta do this?" Daryl asked.

"I guess. Yah," he said. "Don't think it's that I'm missin' her specifically. Just miss... it."

"What? Gettin' laid?" Daryl asked suddenly, a little more self-conscious of Rick's hands on him. "Maybe you need to be rubbin' one out more often?"

Rick laughed. "No, not THAT. Just ... It... The having someone there. I don't guess you'd really get that," Rick said as his hands slid off Daryl's shoulders.

"I don't," Daryl said as he turned around. "We got people every damn where." And he nodded out to the yard where three of them were killing a handful of walkers by the fences. "And I'm here. Don't I count?" Daryl finally asked, his tone serious this time and his expression pensive, clearly wanting an answer. 

Rick looked at him and held his gaze. He seemed surprised. "You count, Daryl."

The hunter knelt up and used his hands to turn Rick around. "Here, let me do yours." Mostly it was just a way to get Rick's probing eyes off him. "You gotta be achy too from the stress a' runnin' this place and y'know, goin' bat-shit crazy for a while."

Rick laughed and then dropped his head as Daryl tightened his fingers trying to mimic the leader's movements.

Rick's breath hitched as Daryl squeezed tightly around his shoulders.

"Sorry. Too hard?" Daryl asked.

"No, actually feels really good," he said quietly.

Daryl tried to press his thumbs in like he'd felt Rick do. He could feel tense muscles under the leader's skin.

"Feels nice to have hands on ya after so much time," Rick said.

Daryl didn't respond. Didn't know how to respond.

"Ya gotta at least miss that even with just girlfriends or one night stands or whatever," Rick continued.

"Wasn't like that." Daryl said.

"What was it like then?"

"What was what like?" Daryl asked, suddenly getting lost in the conversation.

"What was Daryl Dixon like before the world turned ta shit?"

"Busy. Had too much else ta worry about to bother tryin' a' chase some tail." He could tell he was starting to blush. Didn't want this conversation. It was gettin' too personal. "Just shut up 'n let me do this," he said like he needed every ounce of concentration to press the knots out of Rick's back.

"Daryl?"

"What," the hunter snapped.

"Are you a virgin?" 

Daryl stood up and grabbed his bow, just to have something between him and Rick. "I'm s'posed ta be watching not... Getting the third degree. Go on. Go. Get out of here. I'm busy," Daryl said, clearly flustered, knowing his reaction pretty much answered the question.

Rick didn't stand. In fact, he leaned back against the tower wall, a smile still plastered across his face. "Oh, Daryl. No wonder you're always in such a pissy mood!"

Daryl had started pacing nervously. "Shut the fuck up, Rick," he snarled.

"Have you ever even been kissed?"

"Rick! You wanna take watch? Cause either your leavin or I'm leavin," the hunter said with bared teeth.

"Don't kick me out." Rick pouted with the smile still playing in his eyes. "I'm lonely."

"You're pathetic," Daryl said, sitting back down but now against the side wall instead of by Rick along the back.

They went back to silence for a while. Daryl started biting at a thumbnail. Keeping his eyes on the tree line.

"Wasn't much of a' catch. Can't take someone out to dinner if ya ain't got no money and barely got 'nough dinner for yourself. Couldn't get a job for shit with the last name Dixon. Can't meet anyone out in the woods huntin' 24-7 ta feed yourself.... And your piece a shit brother." He spoke around his thumbnail as he continued to chew on it nervously.

"Hey, I met you out in the woods," Rick said like it was some kind of epiphany.

Daryl just looked at him, dumbfounded. He was usually able to read Rick fairly well, but his expression was unreadable. They sat in silence a few more minutes and Daryl's gaze shifted back to the trees.

"I kinda wanna kiss you," Rick finally said flatly, as if it were a fascinating discovery rather than the most bizarre thing that could possibly slip through his lips.

Daryl got up and started down the ladder.

"Wait, wait..." Rick pleaded, "don't leave."

"Rick you're losin' your fuckin' mind. I think Lori's 'bout to show up 'gain and their ain't room for three of us up here." Daryl tried to step down another rung, but Rick had his hands twisted into the hunter's shirt, begging him to come back.

"Daryl, please come back up. Don't leave me alone. You said you'd always be here." He sounded like a damn child, Daryl thought. But it worked and the leaders pouting and pleading brought Daryl back up.

He sat in the corner with a deep frown and his arms crossed. His stomach was in knots. He didn't like talking about personal stuff, didn't like Rick knowing he never had anyone, was freaked out that Rick was losing his damn mind again and slightly disturbed at the fact that he came back up because he didn't want Rick's face to look so sad. He liked it better when the leader was confident, or smiling, or better still- laughing. But why Daryl gave a shit if Rick was smiling or not was beyond him. Why did he care about always being there for this man? Wanting to make him happy?

"Sorry." Rick said. "Guess I just miss.... The intimacy. And I feel so close to you, and..."

"Is this that fucking important?" Daryl asked, trying to act angrier than he was. 

"'F you never been with anyone like that I guess you really don't understand. But... I really want you to understand."

"Why?"

"Cause it's nice. Feels nice. Don't get many nice things anymore."

Daryl didn't respond.

"Ya liked the massage."

"So?"

"It's nicer than that."

Daryl stood. Paced. Looked out at the trees. Then sighed defeated "Ok. Go ahead," he said, pressing his back against the wall and keeping his arms crossed. His stomach was doing cartwheels and he partly felt like he might throw up. Not because he was disgusted at the thought of Rick kissing him, but because he wasn't.

Rick's mouth curled into a huge smile. He got up and walked over to Daryl, stopping cautiously a few feet before him. "Yah?"

"Just do it, will ya?"

"Ya gotta relax first." Rick muttered as he took Daryl's stiff folded arms by the wrists and gently uncrossed them, pressing the hunter's hands down by his side.

Daryl kept his gaze behind Rick instead of on him. And the leader stepped closer, took his chin with one hand and tilted his head to force eye contact. "Don't be far away. Be here," he whispered.

Daryl met Rick's gentle stare and tried not to look away. Rick's features had softened. His pupils were huge making his eyes look almost black in the twilight.

Rick put his hands behind Daryl's neck and massaged him again.

"Relax. Ain't gonna bite ya," Rick said. He rubbed at Daryl's neck and shoulders and it did make the hunter a little less tense, less rigid. "You sure it's ok?" Rick whispered, his mouth just inches from Daryl's.

"'S fine," Daryl muttered, although by this point it was more than fine and the hunter felt like he never wanted anything more than to close those few inches of space between them. He was no longer forcing himself to meet Rick's eyes. Suddenly there was nowhere else he wanted to look.

Rick brushed the hair from the hunter's eyes and Daryl watched as Rick's eyelids fluttered shut and his head tilted slightly. Realizing suddenly he should probably have his eyes closed too, he squeezed them shut tight. He suddenly felt like he'd forgotten to breathe and when he parted his lips to take a breath, Rick's mouth was on him. Soft and wet and warm. Daryl didn't move his lips or tongue, unsure of what was supposed to happen. But as Rick's mouth worked, he felt like their lips were fitting together and moving together exactly in the right way. He felt Rick's tongue slip into his mouth and run a line along his lower lip. He tasted earth and life and sweat. He slowly, hesitantly pressed his tongue into the leader's mouth to test how it felt and Rick's hand cupped the side of Daryl's face and another slid along the hunter's neck, holding the base of his head steady as he kissed him deeper, sucking at his tongue, moving the rest of his body closer so their chests were touching.

Daryl's heart thumped so hard he was afraid he was going to have a heart attack. He realized his hands were shaking at his sides. His knees felt like they might buckle underneath him. He wanted to steady himself and the most stable thing he could think to grab onto for balance was Rick. He grabbed awkwardly onto the leaders hips.

And he felt Rick's moan reverberate through his whole body. He had forgotten about breathing again and pulled away gasping for breath. Rick leaned in for a last kiss and sucked at Daryl's bottom lip, nipping at it with his teeth before pulling back. The leader's eyes were huge and his smile was soft and warm. He took a step back and leaned against the rail as if waiting for Daryl to speak first. The hunter's hands were in tight fists and his chest heaved. He knew his eyes were dazed. Was he hyperventilating?

"'S nice, right?" Rick whispered. "Bein close like that?"

"'S ok," Daryl said in a shaky voice.

Rick reached out and put a hand on the hunter's chest. "Breathe," he said. Daryl tried to concentrate on his breathing. He had to remind himself to breathe in and remind himself again to breathe out. It had just been a regular day. No different than a million other days. But now it was the day everything changed.

Daryl felt Rick's hand still on his chest. How could he not want to swat it away? He looked down at it, his nervous hands still awkwardly white-knuckled at his side.

"I can show you more," Rick said.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear thoughts and feedback! I have three open, unfinished fics I need to loop back on now so I think this will be my last one-shot for a while! This website is killing me! I'm too addicted to reading and writing Rickyl! I have to get myself under control!


End file.
